nova rear beam

[silk violet]

Hi there i am STILL working on my mk 2 gsi and at the moment replacing the rear brake hoses and have noticed the rear beam is quite rusty (what a suprise) and want take off rear beam and grind down and repaint it but how difficult is it to take off....??? Much help appreciated..

[therealnovaboy]

very easy.

jack up the car on the centre of beam axle
put axle stands just behind where the rear beam attaches to chassis legs (on chassis legs) on each side
remove wheels 17mm socket
take the drums off with 24mm socket
pull the circlip off where the handbrake cable enters the drum
unhook the handbrake cable
clamp the brake hoses and detach using 19mm spanner and a 9mm spanner
remove 2x bolts on the bottom of the shocks 13mm socket
remove 2x bolts on chassy/bushes 15mm socket and 15mm spanner
drop the beam down on the jack.

[silk violet]

cheers for your help mate... much appreciated

[paul james]

I ended up completely stripping down the rear beam on mine, removed everything off it. I'd recommend doing it that way as you can remove every bit of rust then using wire wheel attachments, ploycarbide wheels, shot blasting etc. off both the beam and drum backing plates and make everything look like new again. If your not going to strip it down, then you may aswell just leave it on the car and sand down the main section between the wheels and paint that.

Oh and you can remove the rear beam without taking the drums off, just detach the handbrake cable further up.

[therealnovaboy]

Oh and you can remove the rear beam without taking the drums off, just detach the handbrake cable further up.

I know but then you have to re adjust the handbrake when you put it back together. It'll also be in the way when your sanding

[silk violet]

i want take complete rear beam and start stripping and sanding everything down... and then repainting.

[andy_mk3]

I'd definitely recommend having it shot blasted and powder coated, it might cost a bit more but they're horrible things to clean up with a wire wheel and it takes hours. Plus the finish from powder coating is awesome :)